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Genesis (episode)
Enterprise crew members de-evolve into prehistoric creatures after a medical treatment by Dr. Crusher goes wrong. Summary and Jean-Luc Picard discover Ensign Dern's body.]]Lieutenant Barclay, having diagnosed himself with a lethal illness, goes to see Doctor Crusher - who assures him that he in fact is not suffering from any lethal illness, but has a mild case of Urodelan flu instead. Usually humans exhibit a natural immunity to the flu, but since the T-cell in his DNA, that would normally fight off the infection, is dormant, she activates that gene with a synthetic T-cell to let the body fight the infection naturally. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Worf's new weapons guidance system is being put to the test. However, out of two torpedoes launched, only one hits its target while the other torpedo sways off course. With the Enterprise unable to disable the other torpedo due to an asteroid field, Captain Picard and Data leave the ship to disarm the torpedo via a shuttlecraft. In the meanwhile on the ''Enterprise'', several crewmembers start displaying strange behavior: Lt. Barclay acts unusually motivated and enthusiastic, Counselor Troi finds the atmosphere too dry and cold – constantly changing around the ambient temperature and humidity levels, consuming large amounts of salty food and water, Commander Riker has trouble with his memory and difficulty concentrating and giving orders, and Worf acts somewhat primitively, exhibiting extremely irritable and violent behavior, eventually attacking and biting Deanna in the face and spewing a fast-acting venom into Dr. Crusher's face, who, in turn, is rapidly put into stasis to prevent paralysis. Three days later, Picard and Data return to a visibly unmanned and adrift Enterprise. They search the ship and find Troi in her bathtub, having developed into an amphibian-like creature. They reach the bridge and find it in shambles with a dead Ensign at the conn, and Riker, who has apparently de-evolved to a proto-human. Data quickly realizes that the crew is de-evolving. Since Data’s computer in his quarters operates independently from the ship’s computer and is probably still intact, they decide to go there in order to examine the situation further. Arriving at his quarters, Data notices that Spot, who has been expecting a litter of kittens, has finally given birth – while herself having mutated into a reptile. Her kittens, however, do not seem to have been affected by whatever condition is plaguing the rest of the crew. Data surmises that the introns of the crew, which contain DNA of their evolutionary ancestors are becoming active, causing the crew to "de-evolve". Given that Spot’s kittens are unaffected, Data and Picard conclude that the amniotic fluids in the placenta have probably prevented the intron-virus from being passed on to the kittens. They decide that they probably can inhibit the intron virus by using the natural antibodies in Spot’s amniotic fluid. However, in order for it to be effective on humanoids, humanoid antibodies would be necessary. Noting that Nurse Ogawa , is expecting, they begin working on extracting antibodies from her. Data begins to analyze Ogawa's amniotic fluids when a transformed Worf tries to force his way to the sickbay. He is apparently attracted to something in sickbay. Picard notices that the bite Worf gave Troi was not to hurt her but rather seemed part of a mating ritual, and that Worf he has come back for her. The situation becomes increasingly dangerous as an ever angrier and extremely furious Worf almost breaks through the door. Data and Picard cannot just abandon Troi and others in sickbay, but at the same time, Data needs to continue with his analysis of the amniotic fluids. Picard, who is beginning to experience the effects of the disease himself, suggests extracting pheromones from Troi to lure Worf away from sickbay, so Data can continue his work and the others are safe. He leads Worf on a chase through the Enterprise and eventually manages to knock him out through electrocution in a Jefferies tube. Finally, Data reports that he has found a way to make the introns in the crew dormant again and at Picard's consent, he floods the ship with a gaseous form of the new virus, turning the crew back to normal. In sickbay Barclay, who had turned into a spider, asks Dr. Crusher if all this was his fault. She, however, states that it was technically her own fault for having activated a dormant T-cell which, in turn, activated many dormant T-cells. She names the virus after Barclay calling it the Barclay's Protomorphosis Syndrome. Jokingly she tells Deanna that now he devolved into a spider and has a disease named after him. Troi states that she better clear her calendar for the next couple of weeks now…. Memorable Quotes "Before I start... swinging through the ship looking for breakfast, we'd better look for some answers." : - Picard "What is it?" "It is large." : - A terrified Picard to Data upon discovering the devolved Worf "He transformed into a spider and now he has a disease named after him." "I think I better clear my calendar for the next few weeks." :- Beverly Crusher to Deanna Troi after Crusher finished talking to Reginald Barclay. "Doctor! My capillaries are shrinking!" :- '''Reginald Barclay' to Beverly Crusher "Do not approach me unannounced, especially when I'm eating!" :-'Worf' Background Information * This episode marks the final appearance of Dwight Schultz (Reginald Barclay) on the series. He would be seen again with the crew in and several episodes of Voyager. * This is the only episode of the series directed by Gates McFadden (Beverly Crusher) and the first episode of Star Trek directed by a female cast member. *The idea of a Captain and a crewmember returning to their drifting ship, with the crewmembers undergoing a medical crisis, would later be used for . * It was written into the script that Gates McFadden's character, Beverly Crusher, would be severely disfigured by Worf. She was promptly put into stasis to prevent the injuries from worsening. The absence of Dr. Crusher from much of the episode gave McFadden more time to spend directing the episode. (Ironically, production work was hindered by the Californian earthquake of 1994 and McFadden did not have sufficient time to produce her own "cut" of the episode as a result.) *Toward the end of the episode, Dr. Crusher comments to Barclay that it is traditional to name new diseases after the first patient. This tradition has appeared after our time period. Eponymous diseases have almost always been named for the first person to describe them in medical literature (Parkinson's disease; Down's syndrome; Marfan's syndrome; Kartagener's syndrome). Rare exceptions from our time include Legionnaires' disease (named for a group of people) and Lou Gehrig's disease (named for a famous—though not the first—sufferer). *The list of visible transformations include: **A crewmember, who has de-evolved into a snake-like creature. **Dern, who had begun to de-evolve before being killed by either Riker or Worf. **Troi, who has de-evolved into a Human/Betazoid fish-like creature. **Riker, who has de-evolved into an australopithecus. **Picard, who has begun to de-evolve into a lemur/pygmy-marmoset hybrid. **Spot, who has de-evolved into an iguana. **Barclay, who has de-evolved into a spider. **Ogawa, who has de-evolved into an ape-like creature. **Worf, who has de-evolved into a prehistoric Klingon. *Several of the scenes in this episode are reminiscent of scenes in the 1979 Ridley Scott film Alien and its subsequent sequels. **The look and general atmosphere of the episode after Data and Picard return. **La Forge and Barclay discovering deck plates corroded by Worf's venomous saliva. **Picard and Data coming across a fragment of skin shed from a reptilian life form. **Worf trying to break down the door and bends it inward. **Worf pursuing Picard through the Jefferies tubes. * Introns are actually non-coding segments of DNA, rather than areas holding the genetic information of an organism's ancestor. Awards * This episode won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Drama Series and was also nominated for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Sound Editing for a Series and Outstanding Individual Achievement in Makeup for a Series. Video and DVD releases *UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 86, . *As part of the TNG Season 7 DVD collection. Links and References Guest Stars *Dwight Schultz as Reginald Barclay *Patti Yasutake as Alyssa Ogawa *Carlos Ferro as Ensign Dern Uncredited Co-Star *Carl David Burks as Ensign Russell Uncredited Stunt Double *Rusty McClennon as stunt double for Michael Dorn References amniotic scan; aquatics lab; arachnid; arboretum; australopithecine; Barclay's Protomorphosis Syndrome; bath tub; Betazoid; biobed; biology; bioscan; biospectral scan; caviar; cholic acid; Beverly Crusher; Cyprion cactus; ''Enterprise''-D, USS); Hacopian; hypochondria; hypothalamic series; intron; K-3 cell; Klingon; Livingston; medical tricorder; mutation; Pheromones; photon torpedo; Andrew Powell; Pygmy marmoset; reconstructive surgery; William T. Riker; sebaceous gland; Selar; sickbay; Rebecca Smith; Spot; Starfleet Medical Database; stasis; Symbalene blood burn; Deanna Troi; type-6 shuttlecraft; Urodelan flu; Worf |next= }} Category:TNG episodes de:Genesis (Episode) es:Genesis nl:Genesis